pres.umptuo.us

I joined the Quinn server for some exciting multiplayer Tetris action. Two of the players were still going at it, but I clicked the “play” button anyway in the hopes that I could just jump in, but alas, it was an “everyone starts at the same time” deal.

I fiddled with some of the options as I waited, and then heard the chime announcing the new game was about to begin. Eager as I was, I clicked the “play” button, but as I did the “play” changed to “abort”, and before I even got to drop my first piece, I was out of the game. Who knew it would automatically start the game for me?

I opened the chat for the server and did my whining.

“Man, I accidentally hit abort =(”

Someone responded and asked everyone else to abort their games as well because it wasn’t fair, and to my surprise, they all aborted and restarted the game so I could play! Courtesy and respect are two things I never expected from an online gaming community.

This was a far departure from my usual games of Warcraft 3 with 12-year-olds, who insult other players with names like “gay” and “noob” when they lag the game and bring everything to a halt.

The age difference between people who play Warcraft and Tetris accounts for the perceived immaturity, and yet if all the 12-year-old Warcraft players grew up to become like the Tetris players I played with last night, then there may be hope in a civilized future after all.